Cleaning Throttle Body

[diverjer]

I decided to clean the throttle body and put in new air filter on 1997 Dodge Ram I just bought, it has 165,000 miles.

After taking off the filter housing I found lots of gunk. Was afraid to spray it as all that will liquify and go on down. You can see on the left side where I just slid my finger on a small space which is now shinny. I think that gunk isn't hurting anything as it stuck on there, but is a sign of what has gone on down. Thought I would post and ask if that is a problem, should I spray away or do something else??

Here are some pics of what I decided to hold off on. Also I think that connection on right side toward back is idle air control that can be removed and cleaned or maybe just better to replace? Any advice is appreciated.
https://picasaweb.google.com/olddiv...&authkey=Gv1sRgCK6p5dj-pqaPPQ&feat=directlink

 

[Bigtman07]

mmmmm Gunky. lol

Well the best way to make power and MPG is to have smooth airflow. So taking the TB off and cleaning it would be a good thing. A few bolts and some wire connectors later it is off and ready for a good cleaning. You may notice some differences. Or maybe not. But it won't hurt.

 

[bigtigga84]

Carbon and dirt build up. probably better if you take it off so that stuff doesn't fall in the intake manifold. id say its probably never been done. a better filter will help keep it clean too. Is there a tube going from the valve cover to the intakevtube?

 

[Hollabakzach23]

mine looked pretty similar to that when i pulled mine off. i replaced the sensors that were on the throttle body as well. i used an old toothbrush to get the gunk off of mine with the throttle body cleaner as shown in the pics. when you take the TB off cover it with a clean rag so nothing else gets down there. while you have it off go ahead and take a peek down there and make sure there's no oil pooled up in your intake!!

 

[diverjer]

I think that sounds like a good idea, looks like there are only four bolts easy to get. Then three cables, not sure how they come off, I would guess pull straight out.

I see three elect connections. IAC I believe is on back of TB, right side back is TBS and right side front is MAP. That is when I face engine.

Think I should replace all three sensors, I read somewhere you can clean the IAC?

While looking at all this I noticed where the distributor cap is, what engineer ever put that back there, I like to change it and the rotor, but don't know if my old body will reach that far.

Yes there is a tube going over to the passenger fender, it was connected to the filter box, but not very good and the guy I bought it from lived on a gravel road.

Better filter, not a bad idea, suggestions that don't break bank and easy.

 

[Hollabakzach23]

I think that sounds like a good idea, looks like there are only four bolts easy to get. Then three cables, not sure how they come off, I would guess pull straight out.

I see three elect connections. IAC I believe is on back of TB, right side back is TBS and right side front is MAP. That is when I face engine.

Think I should replace all three sensors, I read somewhere you can clean the IAC?

While looking at all this I noticed where the distributor cap is, what engineer ever put that back there, I like to change it and the rotor, but don't know if my old body will reach that far.

Yes there is a tube going over to the passenger fender, it was connected to the filter box, but not very good and the guy I bought it from lived on a gravel road.

Better filter, not a bad idea, suggestions that don't break bank and easy.

Yeah 4 bolts, undo the clips to those sensors and the cables have those little knobs on the end of the hold them to the clips! Just take a picture or something of the cables because I freaked myself out when I reinstalled them because my gas pedal was all the way to the floor but it's because I didn't feed the cable through correctly!! I replaced the sensors because I had credit at autozone and I think they weren't more than 8 bucks a piece so I said why not since I already had the TB off.

The cap and rotor is in an awful location but I replaced both of those as well. Not too bad. It's two bolts I believe and you can use a small extension to get those off. It shouldn't be too bad if you already have the TB pulled. Just make sure you put it on the same position you pulled it off. It was a pain since I'm only 5 6 and have T. rex arms but it can be done!


My tube on my stock airbox was not connected well at all just kind of slid on and that was all. I would have guessed you lived on a gravel road the way that TB looked so that makes sense!!

As far as filters any stock replacement will do just fine as long as its fresh. If you want to get fancy with it autozone carries a k&n replacement for a little more but honestly they have a brand called spectre that was like a 33 dollar filter and is washable and reusable that I ran in my stock airbox on both the dodge and my old ford that was a nice upgrade from stock and I never had any issues with them! Any reputable brand (aem, k&n) will have a replacement for ya that will work fine just shop around and you can find some good deals I'm sure.

 

[diverjer]

It was raining today so I cleaned the TB, took it off and gave it a good cleaning. Took off the IAC and cleaned it. Took off TPS and then just put it back on, took off MAP and blew cleaning through hole. Thought about replacing, but Autozone wanted $34.99 for TBS (TBS318), $42.99 for IAC (AC305), $65.99 for MAP (SU342). The must be working so did not replace
Wanted to replace distributor and rotor, but I just can't stretch that far back there, was afraid I break something laying over engine. I found the 7mm bolt head, but couldn't see it, feel only. Don't know Dodges, if distributor don't have groves to drop in, then bolts may be hard to find and tighten by feel only in an uncomfortable position. Most rotors only have one way to go on with a flat side, but there again I only had GM prior to Oct 2. I got the firing order and everything down. If it is like everything else on this truck, it has 165,000 miles on it.

 

[Hotroder383]

You would be surprised at how much can be gained by changing the cap/rotor and MPG if they haven't been done. I know it is a pain but with gas being $4 a gallon and going up I'd make time. I did mine when I pulled intake off, was really easy then LOL.

 

[diverjer]

There are a couple of younger guy running a shop not far, everyone that uses them says they are fair. I will see what they charge and then decide if I do it myself. I just had one of those epidural steroid injections in my neck and it's feeling some better. Thankfully the bad stuff in the news didn't make it to Kansas.

Yea it looks like if the intake was off, then you could see the cap and bolts.

 

[nitto]

i had a diy for taking the cap and rotor off for the 2nd gens that was pretty help full, let me see if i can get it

 

[diverjer]

Got it done, new cap, rotor, plugs, wires and starter. I don't think the plugs had ever been changed, 166,000 miles. Had to remove one of the heat shields on a plug (plug 8) to get it out, took some work, believe it was factory defect of block molding?? Anyway, all new and only heat shield missing, I don't believe it will be a big deal.